SILVERTON, NEVADA -- PRESENT DAY: Barbara and Gina and their boyfriends Jerry and Paul walked out of the Bijou with the rest of Silverton's teenagers who'd taken part in the Halloween tradition of watching "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." All around them were people in costume, reciting lines from the movie and generally clowning and goofing in front of the small town's only theater.
The foursome made their way to Paul's Silverado parked down the street. "Is it just me or does it seem like the crowd keeps getting younger and younger?" the tall basketball star asked as he fished his truck keys out of his pocket.
"Maybe it's just that we're getting older," offered the beautiful red headed Barbara who had just turned 18 a week earlier, joining her three friends as official adults.
"No, Paul's right," stated Barb's beau, Jerry. "I swear some of those kids are my little brother's friends and he's just started junior high school.
"Oh, please," laughed long, blonde Gina. "I remember the first time I saw the two of you here, you were just as goofy as any of those kids. But now that you're Big Men On Campus you're too cool? Whatever. "Rocky" is still a load of fun and I'm not going to let you wet blankets bring me down." Gina slid into the passenger seat beside her guy Paul and said, "Now I'm ready to party, did we decide on Andrew's or Norma's?"
"Andrew's leaves us closer to O'Reilly's," practical Jerry answered, referring to their planned after-party destination.
"Then Andrew's party is the one that will be graced with our presence. Drive on, Studly."
"Yes, Your Highness," laughed Paul, slipping the big SUV into gear.
SILVERTON, NEVADA -- 1872: The mood at O'Reilly's hotel was somber some two days after its manager and "guest relations" leader, Molly McCoy had passed away during the hotel's annual Halloween bash. The proprietor, Seamus O'Reilly, who was also Molly's second cousin, had been angry and touchy immediately after the young woman's passing. Finally, after hearing all the details from one of his most trusted employees, Erin O'Toole, Seamus was finally coming to terms with the fact that Molly the Red was indeed gone, but that she had gone out exactly as she would have chosen -- living her life to the fullest.
Seamus sent telegrams to Denver and San Francisco, notifying Molly's parents and brothers. His cousin Cathleen, the girl's mother, and her father Patrick would be arriving with brother James in another two days time. Her brother Sean expected to arrive from California the same day or the next. Seamus was describing to Erin the plans he'd finalized with the undertaker for Molly's funeral. The wake would of course be held here in O'Reilly's saloon.
"And what will you tell her kin about the way she passed?" asked Erin.
"Most of the truth," he replied sadly. "I don't think they'd appreciate the fine details."
"Aye, you're right about that, I suspect. Seamus, if it's alright with you I'd like to hold a separate wake for those of us who loved her here so we don't have to hold back in our rememberin'."
O'Reilly thought on it a moment and nodded his assent. You couldn't properly send a spirit off to her final reward without acknowledging and celebrating her life here on earth, especially a life as rich as bonnie Molly's had been.
SILVERTON, NEVADA -- PRESENT DAY: Andrew Chumley's party was going great. His DJ knew his business and had a great selection of tunes going through an impressive sound system. There were free-standing propane heaters scattered across the large backyard so people could stand outside despite the autumn chill. And his parents had wisely decided to spend their own Halloween weekend at their cabin at Lake Tahoe, so there were no grown ups to get in the way of having kegs to tap into and some joints to light up.
The October Gang, so-called because all four of their birthdays fell in October, were enjoying themselves along with their classmates and some of last year's graduates who were still in town. However, they kept to their long-standing pact of passing on the dope and going very light on the alcohol. Some stoners and future alcoholics thought it was because they were goody-two-shoes, worried about jeopardizing the athletic or academic scholarships they were sure to be offered for college. For the four friends, however, it was really more of a question of not having a lame excuse like drunkenness to blame their behavior on. If you were going to let your boyfriend fuck you in front of another couple you were not going to be able to deny that you knew what you were doing later.
SILVERTON -- 1872: The people at Molly McCoy's first wake had themselves under a similar restriction as The October Gang; mostly because no one wanted to be the drunken fool who let slip what had happened in the special room at the end of the southern wing of O'Reilly's hotel.
Big Jacob Smits was undergoing the hardest grilling yet. "I understand you were with our darling Molly when she passed?" the dead girl's mother asked as her husband and sons listened in.
Just being in the same room with them was hard for the rough and ready silver miner. He could see about 75% of Molly in her beautiful mother and the other 25% stood there in the form of her father. The older brother took mostly after the father with his black hair, but the younger, Sean, could have been Molly's twin. He breathed deeply to calm himself; then nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"I think everyone's trying to spare my feelings, God bless 'em, but I would truly like to know a bit more about what happened. Will you tell me?"
Jacob swallowed and caught the hard eye Seamus was giving him from behind his cousin. "Well, ma'am..." he stammered. "You know there was a Halloween party going on?" She nodded. "Well...your Molly had done a brilliant job putting together a Haunted House for us to wander through; she was a wonderfully clever girl." A slight smile from the grieving mother. "It had all sorts of spooks, and skeletons and all."
"That girl always did love All Hallows Eve," her father remembered. "I'll bet she played a part in the Haunted House herself."
"That she did," Jacob exclaimed, eagerly grabbing onto the man's words as he tried to think his way through this.
"What was she?" asked Cathleen.
"Ma'am?" responded Jacob blankly.
"Her costume, how was she dressed in the Haunted House?"